The environmental benefits of carsharing: The case study of Palermo

Abstract

The problems related to traffic emissions are becoming increasingly pressing and serious, especially in big cities where the private car plays the main role in the mobility of people, being excessively used, while walking, cycling and the use of public transport are often seen as secondary options and are hampered by a poorly urban environment. Therefore, solutions must be found to reduce the number of cars circulating in the city and to support the most sustainable modes of transport at the same time, in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and harmful substances. A modal alternative which is of undoubted interest could be represented by carsharing, which is a mode complementary to public transport, often involves walking or cycling and causes a reduction in private cars and kilometers travelled. This paper aims to estimate, therefore, the environmental benefits related to carsharing, using the COPERT methodology, developed within the European project CORINAIR for the estimation of road-transport related pollutant emissions. As a case study, the carsharing service in the city of Palermo has been chosen, where pollution and congestion caused by the excessive use of car are fundamental problems that the administration has to solve. The research has shown that there are benefits deriving from the use of carsharing in terms of reducing emissions of pollutants: there is a reduction of 25% for PM10 and of 38% for CO2. However, these benefits are limited compared to the emissions of the registered fleet circulating in Palermo.